Jason slept really well that night. He was tired from all the driving he’d done on Saturday. And he was happy about the way things were starting out, now that he was back home for good. Fatigue and a sense of well-being combined to lull him to sleep.

He checked out of his motel early the next morning. Pulling out onto the road, he pointed his truck toward the place he knew better than any other in Port Charles. The address was 122 Harbor View Drive, and the building was the Harbor View Towers.

Jason had lived there for several years--first in Sonny’s penthouse, and then in his own across the hall. He still owned the unit, and it was still fully furnished. His attorney, Alexis Davis, had all the property records, and she took care of paying his real estate taxes while he was on the road.

The penthouse had been vacant since the day Jason left town last January. That was about to change.

***

Sonny Corinthos was also up early that morning. He was up early most days. Sonny never slept well, and some nights were worse than others. He was usually grateful to see the dawn.

Sonny lived much of his life in a dark place. Yes, he had experienced love and friendship--with Brenda, Lily, Jason, Stone, Robin, and belatedly, his father Mike. But only Mike remained in his life now, and Sonny still kept him at a distance much of the time.

He had carried residual pain and guilt around with him for years. The list was almost too long to tally. It began with a miserable childhood at the hands of an abusive stepfather. It continued in an adulthood beset by violence, death, and unbearable loss.

Sonny had never recovered from the death of Lily and their unborn child in a car bombing. And the wounds were opened anew last year when Lily’s son, Juan Santiago, was beaten within an inch of his life, for no other reason than his connection to Sonny. Juan’s beating sent Sonny over the edge. He locked himself in the penthouse, refusing to see anyone, or take care of himself.

But one person forced her way in, and stayed with him, and listened to him, and kept him from hurting himself even more. She was the last person he would have expected to care or help.

He didn’t want Carly Quartermaine there. He didn’t want anyone to see him that way. But she wouldn’t leave, not even when he insulted and threatened her.

I’m not afraid of you, she insisted.

He lashed out at her, even as she tried to help him. He asked her if she ever thought about the lives she ruined, and he told her she was just like him.

But she saw through his threats, and she got him to talk about the pain. She didn’t give up. And even though he wouldn’t listen to her words of comfort then, he could remember them now, more than a year later.

You don’t have the power of life and death. Nobody does. People don’t drop dead because you did something wrong. God’s not cruel. God doesn’t think that way, and neither do the people who love you. You blame yourself, man, but they never would.

Jason tried to help, too, when he got back.

Do you think that there is a heaven? he asked Sonny. Is that where Lily is? Do you think for one second this is what she’d want? She forgave you. You don’t need to fix anything.

And how had Sonny repaid them? When Carly came to him, months later, needing reassurance that there was nothing going on between Jason and Elizabeth Webber, he took advantage of her insecurities. Before the night was over they had done the deed that changed all their lives.

He told himself he did it for Jason’s own good, to show him what a slut Carly was. He said he wanted to prove she was no good. But what had he really proven? Only that the people who got close to him got hurt.

Jason forgave him before he left. But Sonny never forgave himself. And he never stopped feeling guilty about what that night of loveless passion did to both Jason and Carly.

***

Jason parked his truck outside the Harbor View Towers, then took the elevator to the penthouse level. As the elevator doors opened, he saw Johnny standing at his post outside Sonny’s door.

“Hey, Johnny!”

“Jason! When did you get back?”

“Last night. I’m moving back into my place today.” He paused a second, then tilted his head toward Sonny’s door. “Is he in?”

“Yeah, let me tell him you’re here.” Johnny knocked, then opened the door. “Jason’s here, Sonny.”

Sonny couldn’t believe his eyes. From out of nowhere, the friend he hadn’t seen or heard from in eight months was standing outside in the hallway.

“Jason! Come on in, man.” As Jason entered the penthouse living room, Sonny looked around for cups. “You want some coffee?”

“Yeah, coffee would be good.”

Sonny poured two cups and handed one to Jason.

“So, is this just a visit, or are you planning on hangin' around for a while?”

“I’m back to stay,” Jason answered. “I’m moving in across the hall today.”

“That’s great, man! It’s been a long time,” Sonny said. What he really wanted to say was, I missed you.

Jason leaned forward in his chair a bit, holding his coffee cup in both hands. “Sonny, I wanted to see you this morning for two reasons.”

“Let’s hear it.” Sonny suddenly had an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t think he was going to like what he was about to hear. So he was surprised at the first thing Jason said.

“I want to thank you.”

“For what?” Sonny asked in confusion.

“For saving Carly’s life,” Jason answered. “Michael might not have a mother today if you hadn’t stopped and pulled her out of the water and called for help.”

Sonny looked down, embarrassed. “I just did what, you know, anybody would have done,” he mumbled. “I’m glad it turned out okay.”

“But it might not have been okay. She could have died in that accident. She’s got a lot to thank you for, and so do I.”

Sonny still felt uncomfortable talking to Jason about Carly. So he tried to turn the conversation to something else. “You said two things. What’s the other?”

Jason settled back in his chair. “I said I’m moving back, and I am. But I’m not coming back to the business.”

Sonny tried to hide his disappointment. “Okay. That’s cool.” He paused a second, then added, “You know, I always knew you could do anything you wanted to do.”

“I know,” Jason answered. “And up till now, I didn’t want to do anything but work for you, or in the bike shop Mike and I had.”

“You thinkin' about re-opening the bike shop?”

“No. I got an idea about something last night, after I talked to Emily.”

“So, you saw Emily? That’s good. Anybody else?” Sonny asked.

“Michael. He’s really gotten big since I left.” Jason paused a minute, then added, “And Carly. I ran into her at Luke’s last night. She told me about what you did for her.”

Sonny thought if Jason had seen Carly just hours after he got back into town, it had probably been a lot more deliberate than just running into her. But he didn’t say anything.

“So, you want to tell me about this job idea you’ve got?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you all about it, if it works out.” Jason stood up and set his empty coffee cup on the table. “Well, I should go get my stuff.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sonny asked.

“Yeah, there is. You can let me use your phone. There’s no way I’ll get the phone company out here on a Sunday to turn mine back on.”

“Sure, go right ahead. And do you want to borrow a cell phone for a while? I got extras, till you get all your stuff taken care of.”

“That would be good.” Jason picked up the phone on Sonny’s desk and dialed a number Emily had given him the night before.

Sonny listened, as someone answered at the other end. But he heard only Jason’s end of the conversation.

“Hi, it’s me, Jason.... Yeah, I’m back.... No, for good. Listen, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about. Any chance you could meet me for breakfast?” Jason was silent as the person on the other end spoke. “Yeah, 8:00 at Kelly’s is fine. See you there.”

He hung up the phone and turned again to Sonny. “Thank you, Sonny. For everything.”

“No problem. And you’re always welcome here. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know that.”

As Jason opened the door and headed for the elevator, Sonny knew that his life would be a little less lonely from now on. Though he no longer had a business partner, he still had a friend. And his friend was close by once again--ready to talk, and ready to listen.

In Sonny’s life, that was a rare and beautiful thing.

Meanwhile, across town, Ned Ashton was hanging up the telephone, and wondering what his cousin Jason wanted to talk about.

***

It didn’t take Jason very long to move the belongings he had out in the truck into his penthouse. He hadn’t taken a lot with him when he left. And he hadn’t bought much along the way, other than the truck and his laptop computer.

Shortly before two in the afternoon, he showed up at Bobbie Spencer’s house, as he promised Carly the night before. She was ready to go. Bobbie was nowhere to be found.

“Bobbie wanted to go with us to pick up Michael, but they called her in for some emergency surgery at the hospital,” Carly explained. “And Lucas is spending the weekend with Tony.”

They drove to the Quartermaine mansion, where Emily was waiting with Michael. She didn’t seem surprised to see Jason and Carly coming by to pick him up together.

“Grandfather and Grandmother still aren’t back from Niagara Falls,” she told Jason. “But you’ll come back and see her tomorrow, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Jason answered. He would have been happy to see his grandmother today, but he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to encounter Edward Quartermaine just yet. And Emily had told him the night before that Alan and Monica were at a medical conference in California. He was sure Emily would tell his parents he was back, if they called.

Michael was absolutely delighted to see Jason and his mother. He laughed and babbled most of the way home, as the three of them drove back to Bobbie’s house.

“Would you, uh, like to come in and eat with us?” Carly asked, a little hesitantly, as Jason parked the truck outside the brownstone.

“Yes, I would,” he answered.

Jason took Michael from Carly’s arms and carried him into the house, as Carly got out her keys to open the door. Jason recognized the gold key chain with the name Caroline. It was the one he had given her for Christmas, the year Michael was born.

“You still have that?” he asked in surprise.

“Of course I do,” she answered. “And I still have these.” She held up her hand to show him the replacement wedding rings he bought her the day she was mugged.

She turned back to the door and unlocked it. They all went inside, and Jason set Michael down. They played together as Carly worked in the kitchen.

“When did you learn how to cook?” Jason called to her.

“I’m still not Julia Child, so don’t expect much,” she answered. “But you can’t work in a restaurant without picking up a few things.”

Dinner was simple, but filling. The Kelly’s influence was there.

Afterward, they both read to Michael for a while. Then it was time for the little boy to go to bed, and he fell asleep easily.

“That doesn’t happen every night,” Carly confided. “I can see you’ve still got the touch.”

“So do you,” he answered.

At that moment, they heard the door open. It was Lucas, returning home from a weekend with his father.

“Hi, Jason,” he said nonchalantly.

“Hi, Lucas.” Jason was relieved that Tony Jones had not come into the house when he dropped off his son. The two men still felt uncomfortable around each other, even though it had been more than two years since Tony kidnapped Michael, and Jason injured Tony during the rescue.

He turned to Carly. “Well, I guess I’d better get going. Is it okay if I come by and see Michael again tomorrow?” And you, he added silently.

“Of course!” she answered quickly. “He’s so happy you’re back.” And so am I.

Jason was feeling really good as he got into his truck. Things were working out better than he’d hoped.

As Jason drove off, someone watched from across the street. The man quickly pulled out a cell phone and dialed.

“Mr. Sorel? It’s me. You’ll never guess who’s back in town.”

______________________________________________________________________________